Man City 2-3 Crystal Palace: The day Palace stormed the Etihad fortress

Crystal Palace
In a season during which there have been precious few shock results in the Premier League, Crystal Palace's win at Manchester City felt practically seismic for everyone at Etihad Stadium.
From the jubilant reaction of the travelling Eagles fans, who could barely believe what they were watching, to the gobsmacked silence of the City fans so used to seeing their side steamroller the opposition, this was a reminder of how sometimes even games featuring the top-flight's leading sides do not follow the expected script.
A free-scoring City team that came into the game with the only 100% home league record in the top six tiers of the English game were toppled by a team that had not beaten them away for 28 years and had lost 5-0 here on their past two visits.
Not only that, Palace did it by scoring three times, and after going a goal down. We are used to seeing teams crumble after going behind against this City team, who were the only top-flight side not to drop any points from a winning position home or away in 2018-19 - until Saturday.
But throw in a wonder goal from Andros Townsend, some horrendous winter weather and also a wonderful defensive display from the Eagles and you have the recipe for a memorable upset, and one that might just help to play a decisive part in this year's title race.

A strike that sent shockwaves through the stadium

As City boss Pep Guardiola would bemoan after the game, two Palace shots led to two goals in the first half, but it was definitely a case of quality over quantity for the visitors.
The City fans were still on their feet singing "stand up for the champions" until just before Jeffrey Schlupp equalised from the edge of the box, and that setback was still sinking in when Townsend's sensational volley sent shockwaves through the stadium soon afterwards.
Townsend put it perfectly when he described it as "definitely the best goal of my career, against the best side I've ever played" because it was a strike that seemed to knock City out of their stride.

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